Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Legendary boxer Jack Johnson, the first Black person to become heavyweight champion, will be portrayed by two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali in a limited HBO series.

It will be the second time that he’ll play Johnson, the first being in 2000 when he portrayed him in “The Great White Hope,” a stage play.

Then heavyweight champion Noah Brusso, a boxer from Canada who fought under the name Tommy Burns, agreed to fight Johnson in Sydney, Australia, in December 1908, according to PBS.

The fight ended with a technical knockout in round 14, making Johnson the world’s first Black heavyweight champion.

The bout was dubbed “Fight of the Century,” and Johnson beat Jeffries — who was called the “Great White Hope” — after 15 rounds.